The Frozen Queen
by Chat-leena
Summary: One Shot : Regina runs away after Robin is reunited with Marian in Granny's Diner, and finds shelter with the Snow Queen, Elsa. (Set directly after S3)


Regina was standing on the balcony of the ice castle. She was staring absentmindedly at Storybrooke. She was amazed by how small her town seemed at that distance. It has been weeks since she had last seen her son. She was missing Henry like never before. Since the Evil Queen took over Regina Mills after Emma Swan's betrayal, she had refused to go back to see him. She knew that she would not bear to inadvertently meet Robin or Emma or she would not be able to control herself and she didn't want Henry to see her when she was this weak.

She could feel her heart darkening again. And she was freezing to death. After the Savior had ruined her life the same way her mom had done it years before, Regina had fled the town to find shelter in the forest. There, she had met a stranger: a beautiful elegant blond woman who claimed to be the Snow Queen. At first, Regina didn't want to listen to her; she just wanted to be alone. But the Snow Queen had offered her shelter and solitude in the form of a huge ice fortress on the slope of the only hill in Storybrooke. Nothing enough to bring her peace but quite enough to help her calm down so she could decide what to do next.

"Regina?" The deep sweet voice of the Snow Queen echoed in the white castle. "I knew I could find you here."

"I am always here Elsa. I don't even know why you persist to look anywhere else."

Elsa chuckled softly at the weary comment. She approached the Evil Queen carefully, literally sliding on the frozen floor. She leaned on the guardrail and looked toward the same direction as Regina.

"Still wondering if you should blame Emma or Robin for ruining your life?"

"I don't want to talk about this", scowled the Evil Queen.

The Snow Queen sighed heavily. She gazed into the horizon, thinking about what had led her here; rerunning old memories about her late sister, about the several years of exile, about the destruction of her former kingdom. Then she came to think about the wizard who finally stopped her blood thirst. She could feel his presence in the town below. But she was far from having all her strength back, and therefore she needed Regina to achieve her ends. She had seen her display a great deal of power back in the forest where she had found her.

"You should not hold it back, Regina, not anymore."

Regina looked skeptically at her fellow Queen. She was curious about the reasons that had pushed Elsa to help her.

"You've concealed it enough", Elsa continued. "Forcing yourself not to feel that anger and appear perfect."

"I can't do this to Henry", Regina simply replied.

"Henry here, Henry there, you need to stop caring about what Henry is going to say!" Elsa retorted.

Regina felt her insides clench.

"Henry is the only one who never failed me, Elsa! My son is all I have left. So, as much as I want to erase Emma Swan and her parents from existence, I can't. Because then Henry would hate me and that would be the end of me."

The Snow Queen shook her head, half jaded, half amused.

"Look Regina. I see great potential in you. But you need to break free from what once controlled you. Your fear of judgement first. There is no right or wrong you know?! No rules. Just you and your limits."

"You don't have any children, how could you understand?!" the Evil Queen countered before turning around abruptly and leaving.

'Oh no offense your Majesty! I'm just trying to help!" Elsa hurled before getting back to her dreamy horizon gazing.

It took Regina a few days to accept getting out of her room. She wasn't in the mood for any kind of conversation. And the Snow Queen waited patiently until her guest finally came to her.

"Elsa, why are you... I mean, what are your motives for helping me?" muttered Regina.

Leaning on the guardrail where she was rethinking her plan, the blond slowly turned around to look at her. "That is because I need you, darling."

Regina was taken aback by her honesty but quite glad that nobody was trying to manipulate her.

"Oh. And, what could you possibly need me for?"

The blond queen smiled, knowing that the time had finally come to execute her plan.

"I need you because, the enemy I'm up against is far more powerful than I am right now."

"An enemy here? In Storybrooke?" Regina raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "How? Who?"

"I made a deal with him once..." Elsa began.

"Rumpelstiltskin?!" Regina's eyes widen in surprise but then, she felt like she actually shouldn't be surprised at all. The imp really had a gift for making enemies.

"Precisely", the blond confirmed, playing casually with the end of her long fair braid. "But when I failed to fulfill my part of the bargain, he simply locked me up in a jar."

"I reckon that it indeed sounds like him."

"You know him, you know his weakness. And you have power."

"Should I be flattered that someone finally acknowledges my power?" the Evil Queen smirked.

"Be flattered if you wish, darling. But it is only because all this years in the jar have left me weak. Otherwise I am pretty sure I could easily surpass you."

"I see." Regina liked the way her host handled things. Nothing seemed to bother her; there was nothing in her way. She could tell that Elsa was not joking about her own powers: as weak as she claimed to be, the Snow Queen had erected this massive ice castle in the blink of an eye and didn't even flinch. The Evil Queen was powerful but right now, she had something keeping her from achieving her vengeance and she couldn't get around it. "How are you so careless? I mean, you destroyed everything you had, and even... killed your sister."

The Snow Queen locked gaze with her. And that's when Regina noticed it. Her eyes were empty : you could read nothing in them. No rage, no pain, no happiness either. Simply no emotion at all.

"I did this to myself", she replied. "There was a time when I was consumed by rage, I was then unable to achieve anything, constantly failing at getting my revenge on Anna. But one day, I got overwhelmed by power. And I accidentally froze my heart in the process. Well, I don't regret this happening, it was the best thing I could have done. It made me the queen that I am."

"Your heart is frozen? Like, literally frozen?" the brunette asked, absolutely dumbfounded.

"Maybe you'd like to take a look? I know you witches have a thing with hearts."

Regina took offense at the 'witch' comment. "I am a queen too, Elsa. Not some third-rate witch."

"I know Regina. But you're still dying to take a look, aren't you?"

Regina rolled her eyes and nodded. She had always been interested in hearts that weren't quite like the others. Then Elsa stood up straight before her.

"Help yourself, then."

Regina sought consent in her eyes, but there was nothing. She decided to oblige anyway and shoved her hand in Elsa's chest. She didn't need to take the heart out since she could feel the icy sensation in her hand beginning to spread along her arm. She quickly removed her hand and watched the thin layer of frost covering it slowly disappear.

"That's... That's impressive." The Evil Queen was genuinely amazed. She had heard about black hearts (she actually had one), about half-hearts, about non-beating hearts, even about hearts of stone, but never about frozen hearts.

"That's pretty useful," the Snow Queen stated. "It's more like me," she added. And she let her power flurry through the air into the ground. It was outstanding. It was as if her soul was spiraling in frozen fractals all around them. She just had to think about something and would crystallize like an icy blast before Regina wide-open eyes.

"I guess my heart reflects my personality and power as well. It's dark and broken."

"I could help let the past in the past Regina," Elsa suggested.

"What do you mean?" Regina raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I could freeze your heart as well. You would be free from those feelings holding you back."

Regina hesitated. It could be the solution. But what would become of Henry?

"Henry won't matter anymore if you let me do this."

It was like Elsa could read her mind. Then something else disturbed her. Her own power was about rage, it was warm, it was fire. What would happen to her magic if she let Elsa freeze her heart?

"It should not affect your magic. Your heart will be frozen but you'll still be yourself."

"But... Rumpelstiltskin taught me that magic was about emotions."

The Snow Queen produced a small ice cube in her right hand, and then applied her left hand on it. What she removed her left hand, the ice cube was shaped like a small delicate rose.

"What do _you_ think?"

Obviously, there was something Rumple hadn't told her about magic.

"Alright," Regina decided. "Do it."

It was time for her to get rid of the past. She gave into her rage. After decades of failure, she would finally get her revenge on those who had ruined her life. Nothing would stop her. She'd stop trying to be the perfect girl her mother wanted her to be, she'd stop trying to be the perfect mother Henry wanted so much, and she'd stop trying to be the perfect friend Emma was constantly seeking in her.

"Do it." She repeated.

She stepped back, stood straight up and waited for Elsa to do her thing. The Snow Queen turned around Regina, sliding on the frost floor. She brushed gently Regina's cheek with a cold, cold hand. And stopped, facing the Evil Queen. She took a few steps back and warned Regina.

"Ready? This is going to hurt."

"Ready."

Elsa threw her hand in Regina's direction and a blast of ice came out of it. The blast hit Regina right in her chest, where her heart was. She felt a sharp pain, the sharpest pain she had ever felt, even more painful than when her heart had been broken. She fell on her knees, hands pressed on her chest when she could feel her heart transform into ice. She could not repress the tears from rolling down her cheeks, and crash on the floor only to freeze instantly. After the longest minute of her life, Regina got up. The Snow Queen was leaning casually on the guardrail. And then it happened. Regina stopped feeling anything. However clearly she could remember her son and her lost love, she didn't feel anything. No pain, no rage, no sorrow or fear. Nothing.

"So?"

"When do we start?"

"Good."

Regina came closer to the edge of the balcony. She raised her hand before her and threw flames in the air. She was free. They would never see her cry anymore; she had no reason to do so. And she laughed, she laughed loudly and freely. She could do whatever she wanted now, nothing to restrain her. Satisfied by this turn of event, the Snow Queen whispered:

"Yes. Let it go Regina. Let it go."

* * *

**Author's Note : Oh my god! You guys! Thanks for the great reviews! I am utterly happy that you all want me to continue this story. However, this will stay a one shot since it was inspired by the song Let it Go, as some of you may have noticed. BUT I may begin another fic (after I finish the one I'm currently writing) that could include this scene. So you guys may know what happened before and what will become of Regina aka the Frozen-Heart Queen. Thank you again for your reviews I am so glad you liked it!**


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